Grey Horn Butte
(Devil's Tower), in the Black Hills of Wyoming, is of special significance
to the Lakota Sioux people because near it they received the rituals
of their religion. Their legend concerns a Messiah figure who came at
a time when the people were in great suffering. She is called the White
Buffalo Calf Woman, and when she came she brought a pipe made of the
leg bone of a buffalo calf. When she gave the pipe to the people, she
said that it would be their way to pray to God, to ask for help when
in trouble, to give thanks and praise. She taught them seven rituals
which are still in practice today. So began for them a new relationship
with the world of spirit.

Legend says that,
before she left, the wakan (holy) woman promised to return. As
she walked away she turned into a buffalo that changed into four different
colors ó red, black, yellow, and white -- colors which represent
the races of humanity. The birth of four white buffalo calves in our
own era symbolizes for the Native Americans the return of the White
Buffalo Calf Woman (see accompanying text box). They say she has come
to unify the races and help in the healing of the earth.

Over the generations
the original pipe has been given into the keeping of one worthy person.
Arvol Looking Horse, a Lakota Sioux spiritual leader, is the 19th Generation
Keeper of the Pipe. In this function it is his task to be a caretaker
of the Mother Earth, to bring her honor and respect by continuing the
ceremonial traditions of his ancestors.

On 21 June l996,
3,000 people gathered at Grey Horn Butte to pray for global unity and
the healing of the earth. This World Peace and Prayer Day was inspired
by the vision of Arvol Looking Horse. In preparation for the day he
contacted world leaders and indigenous groups on all continents, asking
them to pray, at the same time, in their own sacred centers.

Looking Horse said:
"According to spiritual leaders and Elders ... the "signs" of indigenous
people's prophecies have shown themselves. The prophecies tell us it
is time to begin mending the Sacred Hoop and begin global healing by
working towards world peace and harmony.... The birth of the White Buffalo
Calf lets us know that we are at a crossroads ó either return
to balance or face global disaster. It is our duty to return back to
the sacred places and pray for world peace. If we don't do this our
children will suffer."

For some of those
gathered on the summer solstice, the journey to Grey Horn Butte had
begun on 3 May in Wahpeton, Saskatchewan, Canada, where 80 trail riders
had begun a 1,200 kilometer journey to Wyoming called the Unity Ride.
Its purpose was to unify tribes which had been torn apart by artificial
boundaries, cultural destruction, and internal disharmony.

Some who made the
ride were the Bundle Keepers, those given the responsibility of care
for the sacred objects of their religion. Ceremonies were held at sacred
sites along the way.

The CeremonyOn the day of the
ceremony people from many cultures and nations gathered in a circle
around the sacred bundles. Arvol Looking Horse led the trail riders
in a preliminary rite, the White Buffalo Dance.

A tribal Elder
with a shaggy buffalo mask entered first to bless the sacred ground.
The ceremonial pipe, the chanunpa, was offered to Tunkashila,
the Father Spirit. There were prayers to the four directions, to the
earth and to the sky. Long chants became hypnotic, the words circling
around to the trilling refrain of the Indian women. From Tibet, the
Noble Princess of Kartze Ozang recited a prayer to the Wind Horse. She
mingled the Tibetan names of Padmasambhava and Avalokitesvara with those
of the native deities. One could hear, from time to time, the piercing
cry of a hawk, or see an eagle ride the wind. In the end all were invited
to offer their individual prayer bundles, their private petitions to
the spirit world. After the ritual, the microphone was available for
two more hours for anyone to share a song, a thought, or a prayer.

Arvol Looking Horse,
in deep reverence on this day, came briefly to the microphone and addressed
the gathering: "Today we have come together, not to talk, but to pray.
This gathering is for global healing, because no one person can do it.
Today it doesn't matter what you believe or where you come from ó
but the prayers must come together. We need each other.

"Today the message
of peace must be delivered. I have prayed with many world leaders for
peace on Mother Earth and I know that a lot of good people are coming
here today, people with good hearts and good minds.

"Today we are coming
together in awareness and knowledge of our sacred sites. When people
have been praying at these sacred places for many generations, we know
that the sacred energy is there. Today there are a lot more people who
have been feeling that energy. If we pray from our heart in a respectful
manner, that's where the healing begins -- it's called natural law,
the gift of life the Great Spirit has shown us; it's going to bring
balance in its own way.

"We remember the
stories foretold by our ancestors ó these are going to carry
our children into the generations that are coming. It is up to us today
to carry this message. We have a lot of prophesies from 100 years ago
that are happening today. That is why we made this journey, because
we know the power of prophesies. Crazy Horse predicted that in the seventh
generation many horses of different colors would gather at a sacred
place. Black Elk said that in the seventh generation the mending of
the sacred hoop would happen.

"We are trying
to get this knowledge of our ancestors back to the people because we
are in the seventh generation today, when once again we turn a page
in history. Already we have signs that show us ó the birth of
the white buffalo calf. Today people are caught up in anger, hatred,
jealousy and confusion. They carry so much pain that they are striking
out. But ceremonies like the one we will do here will heal that pain
and show us how to find inner peace.

"We need to get
the message of respect and honor to all nations upon the earth -- to
carry that message of peace and non-violence. Our families are suffering,
our children are suffering, but prayers of peace can reach all nations.
Today we pray so that people all over the world can have the balance
of life. From this day we hope to see some changes throughout the world."
(from
Share International, September 1996 )